Mrs. Gagnon coughed. “No, I’m feeling a bit better. My son will be here soon. Thank you, Chief.”
Micki checked her phone to see if the Middletown police had called. Nothing yet.
* * *
The Early Bird seemed fairly quiet, although there weren’t many parking spots available. Micki parked across the street and heard someone call her name from behind her.
“Mick!”
“Oh, hey, Chloe. I’m so sorry I haven’t called since the other day at lunch. Everything has been a blur, seriously.”
Chloe nodded. “It’s okay, I get it. Have you talked to Rebecca?”
Micki cringed. “No. I was supposed to go home and talk to her, too. She mad?”
“I think she was just pissed off about the whole thing with her dad. She told me that she knew it wasn’t your fault but that her dad was kind of her hero, and she didn’t even want to think about him doing anything terrible like that. That there was no way he was involved. You don’t think he is, do you?”
“Probably not. We got a very important lead tonight, so hopefully, this all ends sooner than later.” Micki looked away from Chloe, focusing on a trash can nearby. She didn’t want to tell Chloe what a horrible person Gary Raye was. She was afraid Chloe would relay the message to Rebecca, and really, it wasn’t her place. Maybe she’d figure it out for herself, maybe not.
“That’s awesome. I hope so. We miss having you around. Real Housewives of Ogunquit just isn’t the same without your commentary. Rebecca asked if I wanted to sublet your room since you’re never there anymore.”
“You going to the Bird?” Micki asked as they crossed the street in stride. She wasn’t about to discuss the idea of her roommate leasing her room without even talking to her.
“Yeah. I can’t deal with a can of chicken noodle soup for one more night.”
“I’m actually going over there to pick up dinner.”
“For you and Savannah?”
Micki was taken aback. “Um…yeah. How did you know?”
“Just a really good guess. You might not be quite as sneaky as you think you are,” Chloe said with a smile. “I’m also here to pick up some books from Aunt May. I told her I’d help her with her accounting crap for tax purposes. She’ll be in a mood, I’m sure.”
Micki smirked. Aunt May was always in a mood. “Oh, I meant to ask you, did David go the Early Bird the other night for pie? When I talked to him the other day, he mentioned seeing you there.”
Chloe scrunched up her face in thought. “Yeah, actually he did. Why? The whole Savannah thing?”
“Just wondering. I’m glad you remembered. Clears a few things up.” She paused as they made their way onto the Early Bird’s patio. “It was still early, right? Like five?”
“I have no idea what time it was. I wasn’t…oh wait. No, it couldn’t have been five. We didn’t get there until after dark. Aunt May only had the tiny pieces left that nobody wanted.”
“We?”
“Yeah, it was the weirdest thing. I ran into him at Record Time in the CD section. Of course, we were like the only ones there. Neither of us have moved on to digital yet.” Chloe chuckled. “He asked if I was going to the Bird, so after he checked out, we walked back together.”
A pit began to form in her stomach. “He didn’t mention that. What did he buy?” she asked quietly.
Chloe looked at her as if she had three heads. “Oh, right. You can tell a lot about a dude by his musical interests. And David is obviously a cool guy. He bought Harvest Moon by Neil Young.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah. And some other album called American Folk Songs for Kids. Or something like that. Said he’d been feeling nostalgic lately.”
Micki took out her phone and pulled up the website for Record Time, looking through their selection of children’s albums. She found the album David had purchased.
Track Listing:
1. Alice the Camel
2. Buffalo Gals
3. Skip to My Lou
4. You Are My Sunshine
5. She’ll Be Coming ’Rou…
Chloe’s voice faded into the background while Micki felt a punch to the gut, the wind knocked out of her. She cleared her head and found her voice. Chloe was still talking about the early 90s music scene, seemingly unaware of the change in Micki’s demeanor.
“Sorry, Chloe, I have to go.”
“Micki?” she called out as Micki turned and ran off.
Micki raced back to her car, unable to breathe or to see straight. If not for the urgency she felt, she would have doubled over from the cramps that invaded her stomach. Just another reason being emotionally involved was such a bad idea. She should have trusted her gut. “Goddamn it. How did I not see it?” She started her engine with trembling hands.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Savannah left the bottle of red on the counter to breathe for a few minutes. She pulled down two wineglasses from the shelf and set those down as well. She couldn’t get her mind off Jamie, why he was doing this, what outcome he hoped to achieve. She tried to remember instances where he had displayed dangerous behavior or given any inkling that he had such darkness inside of him. She couldn’t think of any. He was forward and crass toward the end but never outright threatening. Savannah had never given him any reason to think she was interested in him romantically. He was a good assistant, a very good assistant, but that was all there was. It was never going to be anything more. And she hadn’t heard anything from him in ages. Why now?
She checked the time again, waiting expectantly for Micki to show up with dinner. Savannah was so pleased to tell Eliana that the bad man was going to be caught and that everything really was going to be okay. When she dropped her off at her friend’s house, she noticed Eliana’s steps were just a little bit lighter. Jamie, the preppy piece of shit, wouldn’t be able to scare them ever again.
Uncertainty still hung over her, but she was confident that Jamie would be caught and charged. Either Micki would find him at his mother’s house, or the police department in Connecticut would apprehend him. Savannah’s stomach fluttered with anticipation, especially knowing that she and Micki had the house to themselves for the evening. It was almost like a celebration. Even though there was still so much awe surrounding the development of their relationship, Savannah couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit hopeful. It was happening at lightning speed and unpredictably, but it was real. Of that she was confident. Savannah didn’t think she’d ever been so sure of anything. She was petrified and more than a little curious as to how someone so different from her could bring her to her knees with little more than a look. It just didn’t fit the narrative of her life that she had so carefully built. But maybe that was exactly what she needed. To change the narrative and let it flow more naturally.
She poured herself a glass of wine, savoring the full-bodied flavor as it coursed down her throat. She removed her suit jacket and unbuttoned her shirt a little, appreciating the cool air on her chest.
The door finally opened, but the blast of the motion sensor alarm assaulted her senses. “Ah, sorry,” she called into the foyer. “I forgot to reset it.”
Smiling, Savannah walked into the hallway, where that smile slowly faded. Micki wasn’t standing in her doorway. The hooded figure stood staring at her, completely still, threatening. The wineglass slipped from Savannah’s fingers, shattering on the tile floor in slow motion. Droplets of wine flew in all different directions, creating tiny puddles of blood-hued liquid: a piece of appalling abstract art she couldn’t help but see even as fear engulfed her.
She turned to run, but he was on her before she could gain any distance. He held her tight to his body, a blade pressed into the soft flesh of her neck.
“What do you want?” she choked out, half scream, half sob.
“You, Savannah. You haven’t figured that out by now?”
The deep voice, accented with a hint of Midwest, swirled in her head like something out of a nightmare. For an instant, she f
orgot her circumstances and tried to turn her head. “David?” she asked quietly.
“I have to say, I’m a little offended that you were so quick to disregard me as a suspect. Maybe I wasn’t the most exciting boyfriend in the world, but I deserve a little credit.”
Savannah swallowed hard, the cold metal leaving red lines near her collarbone. “Can we talk about this? David, this doesn’t have to go any further. Please, give me a chance.”
“I’m fresh out of chances to give you, Savannah. I tried. I left messages, I texted you, I tried to get you to see me. To make you see that what we had wasn’t dead, it just needed a little resuscitation from both of us. You were unwilling. Now, come with me.”
David pushed into the back of her knee with his own, prompting her to move forward. “We don’t need to leave, David. We can stay here and talk. If we could just talk, you’d see—”
“Your girlfriend will be here any minute, I presume. Can’t have that. Now go,” he said, pushing her more forcefully this time.
The thought of leaving the house with him poured fresh panic over her, causing her to struggle forcefully in his grasp. “No!”
He gripped the collar of Savannah’s shirt, and she heard the silk tear. His forearm tightened against her chest, preventing escape. The knife he held in his hand now brushed threateningly against her breastbone.
“Stop it,” David said. His voice was deep and sounded more like a growling animal than the man she had once shared her life with.
Savannah swallowed hard. “I can make this right, David.” She quivered, hopelessness clenching at her chest.
“No, Savannah, you can’t. Not here, not now.”
In a shocking burst of desperation, Savannah brought her fist up behind her, aiming for David’s face. She caught him on his cheek, causing him to hiss in pain, but it wasn’t enough for him to let go.
“You never did know when to just shut up.” He pulled her back by the collar again and slammed her forcefully into the wall, headfirst.
And then everything went black.
* * *
Micki burst through the front door, the motion sensor futilely blaring its warning. She switched it off, drew her gun, and looked to the floor. The broken glass and spilled wine stared up at her, admonishing her for being too late. She ran through the house anyway, praying that the scene in the foyer didn’t tell the story that she was sure it told.
He had taken her. Or worse. But she wouldn’t allow that train of thought to creep in; it would consume her, and Micki needed to keep her head straight. Her heart felt as if it was going to explode in her chest. As she made her way from room to room, images of Savannah reeled through her mind like a movie. She thought of that morning, of Savannah running her hands through her hair, of softly caressing the amber skin leading to her belly button. She thought of how it was when she’d first met Savannah, her seething condescension, the repulsion between them that was just a magnet in disguise. She thought of Eliana holding her mother’s hand outside the school, but far enough away that none of her friends would see that she still clutched on to her mother for support. She thought of sitting across from her at dinner, herself and Eliana forming a mutiny against Savannah’s perpetually healthy offerings. Micki shook her head. Stop acting like she’s dead. There was no option. She had to find her, she had to save her, and she had to make him pay.
Micki called the station. Jack answered. “Shaw set up the assistant, Jack. It was him after all. Get me his address and put out an APB. I’m pretty sure she’s been kidnapped. Have Billy sweep the town, get his last known whereabouts. And then I want a copy of the license and credit card he used to check into that fucking Caribbean hotel.”
She hung up and punched David’s address into the GPS on her phone, activated her siren and lights, and prayed that she’d get lucky.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Savannah slowly swam to the surface, sucking in oxygen as though she had been drowning. She looked out of blurry eyes to find her hands clasped together with zip ties. She tried to kick her foot only to feel the resistance of being tied to a chair. She raised her head slowly to look around the room, dizziness threatening to bathe her in darkness again.
She didn’t know this place. She was in what appeared to be a bedroom. The walls were paneled with dark cedar. Exposed beams ran up the walls and over the ceiling. She was sitting on a plush avocado green wing-back with dark wood trim. It had probably been comfortable back in the seventies. It was dark out, that much she could tell. The windows had no curtains, but there was nothing there for Savannah to see. Just a wall of blackness through every window she could turn to.
“So glad you’ve finally decided to join me, sunshine,” David said, grinning widely. He walked in and sat on the edge of a bed a few feet away from her, made up with a deep plaid comforter and matching pillows.
“Where are we?” she groaned, her voice thick and heavy.
“Away. I told you about this cabin. More than once. You never did want to come up here with me. I told you how romantic and secluded it was. You told me it sounded too much like camping. Shame. Now, even if you did escape, you’d never find your way home.” David shrugged as if they were just having a regular conversation between friends.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Ah, the inevitable ‘why.’ Why do we do anything, Savannah? Why did you leave me when we had a perfect relationship? I was going to propose to you, you know. We could have had a beautiful wedding. Which, of course, would lead to little Davids and little Savannahs running through the house. We could have had it all.” David looked down at Savannah with what seemed like pity.
“How did you get in my house?”
“I had a key made. Remember the time you let me borrow your car when mine was in for service? I figured I’d surprise you at some point. Let myself in and make you a romantic dinner. Something like that. But you never gave me the opportunity. You ruined it.”
“We had the locks changed.”
“I wasn’t dumb enough to get a copy of the front door key. People change those locks all the time. I got a copy of your bulkhead key.” He held up a squat key with a black and yellow rubber key cover.
Savannah cleared her throat, her mouth dry and sore. “You accepted it at the time. You told me that you understood how I felt, and even though you didn’t want it to end, you just wanted me to be happy.”
David’s friendly demeanor morphed into one of rage. “Well…I lied!” he yelled, bending down so their faces were close. “I never accepted it, Savannah. But what was I supposed to do?” His casual manner returned, and he smiled faintly again. “Was I supposed to tell you that I’d see us both dead before I’d see you with another man? Or woman, as the case may be. I’ve seen you tear people apart limb from limb. I had to tread carefully or I’d end up with a restraining order against me. The more I think about it, this might actually be for the best. No distractions, nothing in our way. The chief was a surprise, definitely didn’t see that one coming. Your precocious little daughter can live happily ever after with her new stepmother, or whatever the hell she is, and you and I can ride off into the proverbial sunset,” he said, shrugging off his sweatshirt and laying it on the bed.
Venom seethed from Savannah’s pores. She tugged against the nylon plastic with every ounce of strength she could muster, only to be refused release.
David smiled down at her again. “Hit a nerve, did I?”
“You son of a bitch,” she spat. “If I’m riding off into the sunset with anyone, I can assure you it’ll be in a Winter Valley squad car.”
David was on her again before she could even finish the words. He grabbed Savannah by the back of the neck, hard. “Don’t test me, Savannah,” he said through clenched teeth. “You will never love her. More importantly, she will never love you. I’m it, Savannah. Your last chance. Everyone knows what a vile bitch you are, stuck up and patronizing. I’m the only one that can see below the surface. The wretched, broken—but so very beautif
ul—surface. I can make you happy, Savannah.”
She looked at his eyes, once so docile, now enflamed. Perhaps another tactic might be necessary. Savannah tried to put forth an air of regret.
“Maybe you’re right, David,” she admitted, nodding thoughtfully. “Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to end our relationship. I’ve always been so sure of myself and so sure of the people in my life. Not that there have been many. Maybe I pushed you away because I was afraid you were getting too close.”
David scoffed. “Please. If you think that I believe you now, you’re quite naïve, my love. You threw me away because you didn’t think I was good enough for you. What you didn’t realize was that I was too good for you. You may not see it now, but I’ll prove it to you. In any way I have to.”
“We had some good times together, David. I haven’t forgotten. Maybe we could try recreating some of those. We had a lovely time at that little beach getaway a few summers ago.”
“You were on your laptop almost the entire time.”
“Well, the Fourth of July block party was right around the corner and I had to—you know what? I concede your point. I should have paid more attention to us that weekend.” Savannah’s stomach rolled at the words coming out of her mouth, but she’d play whatever game she needed to in order to get back to her daughter. And to Micki. “What about the wedding you brought me to in upstate New York? Was it your cousin?”
“It was my sister’s wedding. You sat at the table the whole time and complained about the food.”
For a brief second, Savannah wondered, Am I really that unpleasant? “I have to ask you, then, what is it that you’re hoping for here? You don’t seem to look fondly on our past together.”
“That’s just it, Savannah. You never gave yourself to me, not fully. There was always something more pressing, more interesting, someone needier. The only way I could really get you to see me was to take you away from all of those distractions. So, here we are.”
Secrets in a Small Town Page 16